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Lapthorne wins second Bolton Indoor title

Three-time Paralympic medallist Andy Lapthorne made wheelchair tennis history this weekend by becoming the first two-time quad singles champion at the Bolton Indoor Wheelchair Tennis Tournament.

Lapthorne first won the event in 2015 and finished as runner-up in 2016.

His year to date has been blighted by a wrist injury that eventually saw him withdraw from the Australian Open but he eased past fellow Brit Richard Green in the first round, winning 6-0 6-3. And it was a similar story against Sweden’s Anders Hard in the quarter-finals, winning 6-1 6-3.

His semi-final was a tougher affair, however, but a gutsy 6-2 4-6 6-3 win over Japanese fourth seed Koji Sugeno left him one victory away from the title.

And the 27-year-old made good on his top seed status with a 6-4 6-3 win in the final over American third seed Bryan Barten.

“It’s a relief more than anything. The title’s obviously nice, it’s always good to win and get some match wins under your belt,” he said.

“I went to Australia hoping for the best and it didn’t work out. I didn’t really enjoy Australia because I couldn’t do what I wanted to do.

“I’m probably at about 70 per cent this week – it’s nice to come through some tough matches and we keep moving forward.

“The level of tennis I’ve shown, in bits, proves that once I’m back to full fitness I’m going to be a danger again to everyone." Andy Lapthorne

“That’s two of the last four events I’ve played in singles now that I’ve won.”

The Brit could not double up on titles, though, with his quad doubles campaign coming to an end in the semi-finals.

Playing alongside compatriot Antony Cotterill, they won their quarter-final 6-0 6-3 over Hard and Brit James Shaw.

But the American-Canadian duo of Greg Hasterok and Robert Shaw had too much in the semi-finals, beating the Brits 7-6(4) 6-3.

Elsewhere at the event Lucy Shuker made the quarter-finals of the women’s singles before suffering an unexpected loss to Italian eighth seed Giulia Capocci.

Shuker, the third seed, received a bye in the first round before defeating fellow Brit Louise Hunt 6-0 6-1 in the second round. But Capocci proved too good in the last eight, beating Shuker 6-3 6-2.

After their singles encounter Shuker and Hunt then paired up in the women’s doubles, beating Britain’s Valerie Fisher and America’s Elizabeth Williams 6-0 6-1 in the first round.

And Shuker then got revenge on Capocci, beating her and Brit Lauren Jones 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

But their run ended in the semi-finals as the fourth seeds were downed 6-4 6-0 by second seeds Charlotte Famin, of France, and America’s Dana Mathewson.